Easy-opening ring and plug closure



1965 'H. E. FRANKENBERG 3,286,875

EASY-OPENING RING AND PLUG CLOSURE Filed Nov. 1. 1963 HENRY EFRQNKENBERG BY W k I, ARNEYS container.

United States Patent.

3,286,875 EASY-OPENING RING AND PLUG CLOSURE Henry E. Frankenberg, Berwyn, 11]., assignor to Continental Can Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 1, 1963, Ser. No. 320,767 2 Claims. (Cl. 220-54) This invention relates to closures for containers, and more particularly to easy-opening closures for conventional beverage type cans or bottles, which closures can be removed without use of special tools and which have an optional reclosure feature.

Various liquids, such as beverages, waxes, cleaning compounds and other liquids for industrial use, are generally packaged for commercial distribution in wellknown types of metal cans or glass bottles. The cans or bottles are usually of a type which includes a small opening or mouth which is defined by an annular lip of such configuration as to provide an exterior locking ring, and a crown cap is locked to the container by crimping a portion of the cap beneath the locking n'm so as to prevent inadvertent removal of the crown cap from the With such containers, the consumer generally must use a special tool for removing the crown cap from the can or bottle.

It is an object of this invention to provide various novel easy-opening closures for conventional containers for liquids, which closures may be manually removed from the containers without the use of special openers or other tools.

Another object of this invention is to provide an easyopening closure for a container wherein the closure comprises a seal cap including an annual end portion, a topcorner radius portion and a skirt portion having a corrugated edge structure, the skirt portion being connected to the end portion by the top corner radius portion, a pull tab formed integrally with the seal cap and extending inwardly of the end portion, score lines extending from the pull tab across a portion of the seal cap, the closure further including a sealing disc disposed in contact with the annular end portion adjacent to the top corner radius portion, and a sealing material disposed within the area of the sealing disc on the side thereof away from the annular end portion.

Another object of this invention is to provide a closure, of the type described above, wherein the sealing disc includes a skirt portion and a hem, the hem being adapted to rest upon a lip of the container and the skirt being adapted to be inserted into the mouth of the container, whereby the sealing disc is used to reclose the container.

Another object of this invention is to provide a reclosable closure for a container wherein the closure includes a sealing disc having a hem and a skirt, and locking means on the skirt for engaging the underside of a container lip for holding the disc in said container.

Another object of this invention is to provide a closure of the type described above wherein the locking means comprises a plurality of nibs circumferentially spaced around the skirt of the sealing disc.

Another object of this invention is to provide a closure, of the type described above, wherein the hem of the sealing disc is substantially U-shaped in cross-section and includes a top leg section and a bottom leg section connected by a bight portion.

Another object of this invention is to provide a closure for a container, of the type described above, further characterized in that a sealing material is provided on the bottom leg section of the hem for forming a seal with the lip of the container, the hem being flattened when the corrugated edge structure of the skirt portion is crimped beneath a locking ring of the container, whereby additional sealing compression is provided on the sealing material.

A further object of this invention is to provide a closure for a container, the closure including a sealing disc comprising a closure panel, a skirt and a hem, the skirt being connected to the hem and the closure panel, locking means on the skirt for engaging the underside of a container lip for holding the sealing disc in the container, the closure panel being joined to the skirt along the end thereof spaced from the hem, and the closure panel being greater in diameter than the mouth of the container, whereby the locking means are firmly held against the underside of the container lip.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a modified closure including a seal cap, a sealing material and a sealing disc, the sealing disc comprising a substantially flat circular plate disposed in contact with the seal cap, and the sealing material being disposed within an area of the sealing disc on the side thereof away from the seal cap.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description, the appended claimed subject matter and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a neck portion of a conventional container having one form of novel closure connected thereto.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, taken on line 22 of FIGURE 1, showing the arrangement of the seal cap, the sealing disc and the sealing material as applied to a container.

- FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the present invention and shows the pull tab and seal cap as being partially removed from the container.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, similar to FIGURE 2, and shows the sealing disc being positioned within the mouth of a container subsequent to the removal of the seal cap therefrom.

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal sectional view, taken on line 55 of FIGURE 4, and shows the relationship of the locking nibs on the sealing disc with respect to the container lip.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of one form of sealing disc of the present invention.

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, taken on line 7-7 of FIGURE 6, showing the relationship of a locking nib and closure panel with respect to the skirt of the sealing disc.

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of a modified form of sealing disc.

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view, similar to FIGURE 2, of a closure embodying the modified form of sealing disc which is illustrated in FIG- URE 8.

Referring to FIGURES 1 through 7 of the drawing, there is illustrated an easy-opening closure assembly, generally indicated by the numeral 10, and a conventional container, generally indicated by the numeral 11. The container 11 is illustrated as being a standard well-known type of metal can, for beverages and the like, having a neck 12 and an arcuate lip 13. The lip 13 has an internal diameter D, as is shown in FIGURE 2, which defines a mouth of the container 11, and the lip 13 includes an external annular shoulder 14 for providing the container 11 with a locking ring. It is to be clearly understood that the metal can or container 11 is shown only for the purpose of illustrating the invention and the use of the particular closure assembly 10 is not restricted to this particular type of container 11.

The easy-opening closure assembly 10 includes a crown or seal cap 15, which seal cap is preferably made of thin metal, and a sealing disc 16, which sealing disc is preferably made of a plastic material which Will not react with the liquid or other material contained in the container 11.

The seal cap 15 includes an annular end portion 17, a top corner radius portion 18 and a skirt portion 19 having a corrugated edge structure 20. The corrugated edge structure 20, of the skirt portion 19, is adapted to be crimped to the container 11 beneath the locking ring provided at 14. In order to facilitate removal of the seal cap 15 from the container 11, the seal cap 15 is provided with a pull tab 21 which is formed integrally with and extends radially inwardly of the annular end portion 17. A pair of weakening or score lines 22 and 23 are inscribed, or otherwise formed, in a portion of the seal cap 15 extending from the pull tab 21. It is preferable that one of the score lines, such as the score line 22, extend across the annular end portion 17, the top corner radius portion 18, the skirt portion 19 and the corrugated edge structure 20. The other score line, such as the score line 23, preferably, does not extend through the corrugated edge structure 20. Therefore, when it is desired to remove the seal cap 15 from the container 11, the pull tab 21 is bent upwardly and outwardly away from the container 11 to sever the seal cap 15 along the score line 22. The score lines 22 and 23 define a tear strip 24, which tear strip 24 is severable from the seal cap 15 along the score line 22 but, as is shown in FIGURE 3, remains attached to the seal cap 15 and the pull tab 21, so as to provide convenient means for pulling the seal cap 15 outwardly from the container lip 13 such that the seal cap 15 may be easily removed from the container 11. Afterthe seal cap 15 has been removed, as is shown in FIGURE 4, thesealing disc 16 can be lifted with a persons fingers or pried out with a thin coin.

The sealing disc 16 includes an arcuate skirt 30 which is shaped to conform to the curved surface of the container lip 13. The skirt 30 terminates at one end in a reverselyturned hem 31, which hem 31 is substantially U-shaped in cross-section and includes a top leg section 32 and a bottom leg section 33 which are connected by a flexible bightportion 34. The sealing disc 16 is provided, along the'lower edge of the arcuate skirt 30, with a closure panel 35 which is substantially circular in shape and slightly larger in diameter than the internal diameter D of the container lip 13, as is shown in FIGURE 2. The sealing disc 16 is sufliciently flexible so that the closure panel 35 can be forced through the opening or mouth of the container 11 and cause the skirt 30 to snugly engage the container lip 13. In addition, as is clearly shown in FIGURES and 6, the sealing disc 16 is provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced nibs 36 which are located along the lower edge of the skirt 30 adjacent to the closure panel 35. The nibs 36 engage the underside of the container lip 13 and thus constitute locking means for holding the sealing disc 16 in the container 11.

In assemblying the closure assembly on the container 11, it is preferable to utilize a sealing material 40 between the upper surface of the container lip 13 and the bottom leg section 33 of the hem 31 so as to provide a hermetic seal. The corrugated edge structure 20, of the seal cap 15,is crimped beneath the shoulder 14 to lock the is flattened during the assembly operation such that the top leg section 32 and the bottom leg section 33 are forced into engagement with each other. The flattened hem 31, as is shown in FIGURE 2, constantly tends to open to the configuration, which is illustrated in FIGURE 4, wherein the top leg section 32 and the bottom leg section 33 are spaced from each other. This tendency of the hem 31 to expand is restrained by the annular end portion 17 and, consequently, an additional sealing compression is constantly maintained on the sealing material 40; thus insuring a satisfactory seal between the closure assembly. 10 and the container 11.

A modified form of closure assembly, generally indicated by the numeral 50, is illustrated in FIGURE 9. The closure assembly 50'dififers from the closure assembly 10 is that the closure assembly 50 utilizes a flat circular sealing disc 51 instead of the reclosure-type sealing disc 16. The sealing disc 51 is preferably formed of plastic, of a type which will not react with the container contents, but may also be formed of thin metal and, if desired, may be treated with a thin lacquer coating.

Except for the modified form of sealing disc 51,1 the closure assembly 50 is identical in all respects to the 010-. sure assembly 10 and the same'numerals are used to indicate identical elements. As is illustrated in FIGURE 9,

the sealing disc 51 is disposed in contact with the annular end portion 17, of the seal cap 15, and a sealing material der 14 to fasten the closure assembly 50 to the container 11 in a well-known manner.

It is apparent from the foregoing disclosure that there has been provided various modified forms of closure assemblies for containers, which closure assemblies may be removed without use of special tools and, in one form of the invention, there has been provided a novel sealing disc for reclosing a container to prevent spillage in the event that the container is inadvertently overturned.

While preferred forms and arrangement of parts have been shown in illustrating the invention, it is to be clearly understood that various changes in details and arrangements of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claimed subject matter.

I claim:

1. An easy-opening reclosable closure for a container, said closure comprising a seal cap including an annular end portion, a top corner radius portion and a skirtportion having a corrugated edge structure, said skirt portion being connected to said end portion by said top corner radius portion; a pulltabextending inwardly of said end portion; score lines extending from said pull tab across a section of said end portion, said top corner radius portion and said skirt portion to define a tear strip; a sealing plurality of nibs circumferentially spaced around said skirt adjacent to said closure panel, said hem being substantially U-shape'd in cross-section and including a top leg section and a bottom leg section connected by a resilient bight portion forproviding sealing compression when said corrugated edge structure of said skirt portion is crimped beneath a locking ring of said container.

2. A closure as defined in claim 1 wherein said closure panel is joined to said skirt along the end thereof spaced from said hem, said closure panel being greater in diarneter than the mouth of said container whereby said locking means are firmly held against the underside of said container lip.

(References on following page) References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/ 1958 Groendyk et a1.

6 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,061,561 11/1953 France. 1,117,931 3/1956 France.

5 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

G. T. HALL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN EASY-OPENING RECLOSABLE CLOSURE FOR A CONTAINER, SAID CLOSURE COMPRISING A SEAL CAP INCLUDING AN ANNULAR END PORTION, A TOP CORNER RADIUS PORTION AND A SKIRT PORTION HAVING A CORRUGATED EDGE STRUCTURE, SAID SKIRT PORTION BEING CONNECTED TO SAID END PORTION BY SAID TOP CORNER RADIUS PORTION; A PULL TAB EXTENDING INWARDLY OF SAID END PORTION; SCORE LINE EXTENDING FROM SAID PULL TAB ACROSS A SECTION OF SAID END PORTION, SAID TOP CORNER RADIUS PORTION AND SAID SKIRT PORTION TO DEFINE A TEAR STRIP; A SEALING DISC COMPRISING A CLOSURE PANEL, A SKIRT AND A HEM, SAID SKIRT BEING CONNECTED TO SAID HEM AND SAID CLOSURE PANEL, LOCKING MEANS ON SAID SKIRT FOR ENGAGING THE UNDERSIDE OF AN INWARDLY ROLLED CONTAINER LIP FOR RESILIENTLY HOLDING SAID DISC IN SAID CONTAINER, SAID LOCKING MEANS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF NIBS CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED AROUND SAID SKIRT ADJACENT TO SAID CLOSURE PANEL, SAID HEM BEING SUBSTANTIALLY U-SHAPED IN CROSS-SECTION AND INCLUDING A TOP LEG SECTION AND A BOTTOM LEG SECTION CONNECTED BY A RESILIENT BIGHT PORTION FOR PROVIDING SEALING COMPRESSION WHEN SAID CORRUGATED EDGE STRUCTURE OF SAID SKIRT PORTION IS CRIMPED BENEATH A LOCKING RING OF SAID CONTAINER. 